Who doesn't know the story? No curtain, a bare stage with a line painted across it, a dance mirror that comes and goes. Final auditions for dancers in a never-named Broadway show: 24 hopefuls will be cut down to eight, four “boys” and four “girls”. And that's the suspense, sort of like The Towering Inferno without the special effects, wondering if your favorite will be picked off.

The only background you need is that the market for New York show dancers is (was, always will be) drying up. Age and injuries give these kids the professional lifespan of a pro football player. They live on part-time jobs and unemployment checks. No wonder each is secretly chanting "I Hope I Get It".

Zach will make the choices. Looks and dance are what count, but he also wants (as never in real auditions) to know something about each of the dancers. The dancers can't believe it, they don't want to talk about themselves, but one by one, under pain of dismissal, they tell their stories.

Mike is an Italian kid from Trenton, NJ. He tagged along to his sister's dance classes; told himself "I Can Do That".

For a lot of the women, it started with ballet lessons, which provided a refuge from or a substitute for what was going on at home as Sheila, Bebe and Maggie tell us: "At The Ballet".

Al and Kristine are husband and wife; Al habitually finishes her sentences. Like everyone else, Kristine always dreamed of seeing herself in the movies, but as Doris Day, not Ann Miller. The only problem is, she can't "Sing".

The conversation turns to sex, love, growing up, in "Montage", in which nearly everyone participates. It is divided into three sections: "Hello Twelve", "Mother" and "Gimme the Ball". At the end of the "Montage", we get the memories of Diana, a girl from the Bronx who got into the High School of Performing Arts but ran afoul of her Stanislavsky-crazed drama teacher, for whom she could feel "Nothing".

The, er, keys to success in landing dance jobs are now bluntly spelled out for us by Val, in the song that all the world knows by another name (Tits and Ass), but is officially titled "Dance: Ten, Looks: Three".

We've seen early on that Zach knows some of these dancers already. What we didn't know until well along is that Zach used to be involved with Cassie. She left because all he cared about was his work. Now, having failed in her efforts to graduate to acting parts in Hollywood, Cassie has come back to New York, desperate for work, any work, and swearing to her ex-lover that all she needs is "The Music And The Mirror".

Paul, a Puerto Rican kid, who had worked in a drag show, now recounts the day his parents found out about his job. Instead of being shocked or condemning, Paul recalls how his father told the drag show's producer, “Take care of my son”.

The group has long since dwindled from 24 to 16, the final cutdown approaches, as Zach takes the dancers through the shows big number, "One". And Paul goes down with a knee injury. As he's taken off to the hospital, through with dancing for now, maybe forever, Zach asks the remaining company what they'd do if today were the day they had to stop dancing. Regret nothing, Diana answers for all: "What I Did For Love".

At the very last moment, with no time for sentiment or anything else, Zach announces his decisions: Diana, Cassie, Mike and Val are among the lucky ones. As the unchosen walk off, the music starts again, and we see what they've been working toward: a full-blown reprise of "One", all glitter and top hats. They're brilliant, yet we see them as the audience of that never named Broadway show never will; because then the still-absent star will outshine them.

A singular sensation, indeed.